Illini Basketball Retrospective Part Three, the nucleus.

Today is part three in the retrospective of the 2009/10 season, focusing on the returning starters. We also looked at the play of the freshmen and the bench contributors in earlier posts. Later this week: The Coaches.

Regardless of the expectations of the incoming freshmen, everyone knew that the fate of this team would largely be determined by the play of the three returning starters, front line players Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis as well as the enigmatic Demetri McCamey.  These would be the players that would be relied upon for their leadership, their experience and their consistency. They had seen the most playing time of anyone on the team, and we knew what we were going to get, supposedly at least.

If there was any position that we knew we could count on this year, it was Mike Tisdale at center. His skills and deficiencies have by now been well documented. Tisdale is an excellent shooter, a key for the offense with his picks but often a liability when it comes to defending players heavier than him and on the boards. At the very least, Bruce should be able to count on him for production comparable to last year, right? In terms of offense, Tis exceeded his sophomore production. In 08/09 he averaged about 25 minutes a game, hit 53% from the floor, averaged 4 boards a game and had a 10 point per game scoring average. In all of these areas, Tisdale improved. 09/10 he played 28 minutes per game, shot near 60% from the field, and grabbed 2 more rebounds per game, all while averaging 2 more points per game than his previous season. He even improved his freethrow shooting percentage, hitting nearly 84% this season, and adding a 5/6 shooting spurt from three. If we look at these stats alone we would have to say that Tisdale's season was a phenomenal success. And while he was on the floor, it largely was.

The trouble came when he was on the bench, something which happened all too often.. Mike Tisdale was as important to the fortunes of this team as Demetri McCamey. Tis fouled out in seven games this year, and of those seven, the Illini lost six. Bruce Weber, wants, and needs Tisdale on the floor for as long as possible, as evidenced by the number of minutes the seven footer gets in games where he does not have foul trouble. Without foul hindered games, Tisdale's average would surely be over 30 mpg, a mark he routinely played above down the stretch of Big Ten season. As we have already examined, the replacement prospects for Tisdale were a fairly large drop off. Dominique Keller and Tyler Griffey were no where near as effective as the big man, and when he wasn't on the floor, the team suffered.  Tisdale is not only the best free throw shooter, the largest benefactor of Demetri's assists, and key to setting up quality picks, he is also options one two and three for inbounding the ball.

Tisdale's trouble with fouling has largely been attributed to his size, he is tall but not very big. The long and lanky form has allowed him to have some very good offensive abilities but has kept him off the boards on both ends, and when he tries to defend he is literally forced into a bad position which often results in a foul. On offense there have been games where he has been forced out of his spot. The facts are, either Tisdale gets bigger or he just stops trying to defend all together, because his current rate of fouling has bitten the team too many times.

Mike Davis, the other firmly established player of the front line is somewhat of a different story. Last year, he made a huge splash on the Illini, coming from nowhere to nearly average a double-double with 11 points and 8 boards per game, in fact he would reach that achievement nine times that season. I thought that if Mike could make even half of the strides from Sophomore to Junior as he did Freshman to Soph he would be first team All Big Ten for sure. Unfortunately for most of the season, this was not the case. He would add to his double-double resume with 15 this season but during the middle of the Big Ten season, he hit a deep slump that would even see him pulled from the starting lineup for four straight games. He was having some real trouble with his shot, as he dropped from 53% shooting in 08/09 to 47% this season. For a very long time, he just wasn't playing like Mike Davis.

Davis, like Tisdale, has been described as a player whose in game frustration can really cost him. With him, a couple bad plays or missed shots can snowball into a bad night all around. By the time the second Purdue game rolled around, he had received a mystery phone call from someone who convinced him to play like Mike Davis again (good enough for me) and he finished the season with double-doubles in the last 6 of 10 games he played. When he is good, this team looks like it is at a higher level. His last off season was hampered by a broken ankle, hopefully this summer he will be able to enjoy the full privileges of off season strength and conditioning that make a player a legit Big Ten POY candidate, something I believe he can be. 2009/10 though, will probably be looked at as a disappointment for an otherwise very good player.

That just leaves us with Demetri McCamey, doesn't it? Another player whose talents are as well documented as his deficiencies. He is without question, the best and most important offensive player on the team. He is the only player who has proven he can create his own shot, who can control the offense, who can routinely drive to the basket, and most of all the player everyone else on the floor looks to get the ball to. He has played 40+ for the team five times, he leads the team in averaging 15 points and an astounding 7 assists per game. He improved drastically in just about every offensive category from last year. If it seems like I am showering praise on him just  for the sake of it, I'm not. Of the three returning starters he had the least expected from him, with some wondering if Jeff Jordan wasn't the better choice for the role of primary ball handler. He transformed himself in the previous off season from hot and cold jump shooter to true Big Ten point guard. The man had 16 assists against a Sweet Sixteen bound Purdue team, and 22 points against an Evan Turner led Ohio State team. For all of his weaknesses, his frustration with offensive support and on again off again relationship with defense, Demetri McCamey was the most improved player on the team this past season, and that is coming from a a pretty good starting point. I hope he comes back for his senior year, because it could be sick.

But lest we forget, this team did lose 15 games this year, with the most important reason for the losses coming from team defense. In 08/09 the Illini allowed just 57 points per game, this past season it ballooned to 66 ppg. The defense dropped off, and as they are currently composed, the Illini did not have the offensive firepower to keep up with their opponents near as often. Last season, the 10 loss Illini outscored their opponents by 7 points per game, this season, that number shrank to 4. The defensive lapses have to fall on someone's laps, and it has to be the nucleus players. Their defensive play was the weakest of 08/09 and when surrounded by generally weaker defensive players in 09/10 they did not pick up the slack. If the defense was just a little better in the countless close games the Illini played this season, the outcomes would more than likely have been very different. Hopefully, hopefully, this will not be the case next year, otherwise we will have to hope the offensive gains will out pace the defensive lapses.